Blue Solaize and Sherwood Leeks
pulled at any stage of growth. The best time to plant leek seeds in Kihei is in the
cooler months - November through January.
The Sherwood seeds were planted in October and were about 1 inch wide when
pulled this week. The Blue Solaize were planted in January - they're a beautiful leek
but they were slow to germinate.
Leeks need full sun, daily water and monthly applications of fish emulsion or an organic all-purpose fertilizer. I plant leeks in containers and they need a soil depth of at least 9 inches. Grown in containers they're rarely bothered by any pests.
Well you might not get bulbs with your garlic but they sure look good. I can't wait for my garlic harvest, but I wonder if I can dry them in the garage while I'm selling the house. I've got no place in at the new house. Hmm maybe I can rig up something near the roof of the bike shed. If it were made of wood I'd have no trouble, but it is made of plastic.
ReplyDeleteYour leeks and shallots are lovely. I planted shallots and potato onions last fall for the first time. The shallots rotted in the ground. The potato onions look like they are doing well. I will see when they are ready.
ReplyDeleteGarlic grows very well here in Pennsylvania. I planted more then 80. I harvested a few already and the rest will be ready within a week.
Hi Daphne! Because it's so hot here and we seldom have rain, I can dry my onions and shallots outside on my lanai. I imagine it's more challenging if you have cooler temps or high humidity and rain. Then you have to create a special place to dry them.
ReplyDeleteHi Robin! Wow 80 garlic plants - that's amazing! I had problems with some of the garlic and shallots rotting too. I'm not sure why. I still have more to learn about growing them!
Nice garlic and shallot harvest, they are still very good to eat bulb or no bulb.
ReplyDeleteMy Chesnock bulb is small compare to the German Extra Hard, maybe it's our climate or the small seeds that I bought.
YOur leeks and shallots looks lovely, so does your garlic. I grew garlic in pots for the first time this year. I don't think they have liked it at all :( I will be happy if they come out looking like yours though :)
ReplyDeleteHi Mac! It seems garlic is not the easiest thing to grow as I saw lots of mixed results when I searched online. Even though it didn't bulb it froze really well and I've been using it right from the freezer.
ReplyDeleteHi Mangocheeks! It seems that some varieties don't handle the cold winters very well. In my case I couldn't find information about growing garlic in Hawaii so I just took a chance on what I ordered. I hope you at least get green garlic!
Terribly hard to find seed companies who will ship bulbs to Hawaii, thanks for sharing your sources. i ordered some shallots from Peaceful Valley last fall. Not a named variety, a mix of red and yellow. The red bulbed up much better. A little rot appeared in my patch, too.
ReplyDeleteLeeks have been a delightfully easy crop for me as well. Yours look beautiful.
Haven't tried garlic, good to hear about your experiences.
Hi Julie! I thought shallots would be a no brainer but it looks like I have a lot more to learn about how to grow them. Kathy Oshiro has some good info on shallots in her book Growing Vegetables in Hawaii. The leeks in the photo I pulled to thin out my leek section a bit - I hope the rest will grow even bigger.
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